We stayed at Phangan Beach Resort for 2 days towards the end of our 3 week trip, and I must say, having read other reviews, some of who's comments I can certainly relate to, in the grand scheme of things, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and none of the little niggles we encountered would have detracted from this.

I mean yes, they do ask you to read a full page of rules and regulations when you arrive and they do ask to keep your passports for the duration of your stay, but we had no reason to question this and were more than happy to comply. Admittedly we did think it was rather odd, and we were also somewhat alarmed by the extensive price list of items in the room - but this was their policy and so be it. They'd obviously had problems in the past with guests damaging the property and put steps in place to prevent it, which was understandable. If it was my place, I wouldn't want people turning up, getting drunk and creating havoc lol. Some of the replacement costs were slightly extravagant but we didn't intend on damaging or taking anything from the room so it really wasn't an issue!

More to the point, there wasn't really all that much in the room to break or steal! This was where I picked up on the only flaws that I would've considered to be of any importance. Firstly, the only furniture in the room was the double bed, a low table in one corner with a small lamp, a table on the other side of the room with the TV on top, and next to that, the fridge. There was quite a vast area of empty floor space opposite the TV and fridge, which could really have been doing with possibly a small table and chairs/stools or dressing table, as there was nowhere to sit in the room apart from bed and nowhere to place anything or lay clothes, etc. We had to use the curtain rails to hang towels and beach wear! There was also no mirror, apart from the small mirror above the sink in the bathroom, which I had to stand on my tip toes to see into, and only one spare powerpoint for chargers, hairdryers, etc, so it was always a race to get to it first!

Others have commented on the bathroom being outside, which technically it was, but it was fine. The only problem with the bathroom was that the drainage didn't work properly, so after a shower, it took quite some time for the water to drain away. And yes, the toilet was right next to the shower and we had to remove the toilet roll, but after a few weeks of staying in various places, we found this to be the norm! One other minor glitch was the towel rail wasn't wide enough to hold both towels so they never really dried properly and developed quite a musty smell after a short while.

These were the only flaws with the room, none of which were serious - the bungalow itself was lovely. As authentic inside as it was on the out and the air con worked a treat (although another sign on the wall was that you couldn't have it on for more than 8 hours a day or you would incur additional charges, which was pretty much impossible). Needless to say, we didn't incur any additional costs for use of the air con, I don't imagine this is something that the owners can monitor, it's probably just there to deter people from keeping it on constantly, which is fair enough as it's probably quite expensive to run.

The beach was amazing and we had a little bit to sit on right outside our front door, the whole resort had a very private and secluded feel to it, which was exactly what we were after. The grounds of the resort were lovely aswell, with nicely landscaped gardens, all very well maintained. The pool was great too, which we didn't get time to use properly and there was a cute little bar right on the beach. The only downside to this was the music that came from the large speaker next to the bar, which was very close to our room, as our beachfront bungalow was the closest one to the restaurant / bar area and the loud dance music didn't really die down until after midnight, even though the resort was very quiet during our stay. We actually only saw 2 other couples while we were there so I'm not quite sure who was supposed to benefit from the music! The noise didn't end there as the motorised fishing boats started up quite early in the morning!

Even though the resort was quiet during the day, this was exactly what we wanted - the setting was lovely and we were able to just relax and enjoy it without being bothered by anyone else - we lay about on the beach the day we arrived and watched a spectacular sunset, then the following day we hired a scooter from the resort to go sightseeing on the island. The owners also assisted with booking our taxi and ferry tickets to Ko Samui, which was great.

There was a really good menu on offer and we had dinner there both nights, which was only served until 8pm and slightly more expensive than your average restaurant or Thai eatery, but the food was lovely (the roast duck was to die for!) You do pay an extra 7% tax on top of absolutely everything, which is a bit of a drawback, and this was the only place we'd came across that didn't include tax in their room rates, food and drink, so we thought it was a bit strange.

All in all, we had a fantastic couple of days at Phangan Beach Resort, and definitely couldn't let all the little snags take away from the fact that it's a lovely place in an idyllic setting, with clean accommodation, ran by nice people.

We absolutely loved Phangan Beach resort, you fall out of your beach hut onto a gorgeous secluded beach! The owners of the place Andy and Dachuk were so friendly and even took us out for a hen/ stag do! Really made us feel like friends rather that guests. The food was gorgeous and really reasonably priced and we loved the beach hut with Sunchai running it, his stories were hilarious! The pool was so nice and cool too with a beautifull view of the beach. The owners helped us with everything from booking flights to even putting photos on CDs, really couldn't fault them. We had a great time and will definitely be going back again in the future.

I've been quite looking forward to writing this review - given the wide variety of reports on this page. I admit I was not confident before we arrived - I didn't make the booking and was half expecting to stage a walkout very soon after arrival.

This is a budget resort, catering to a budget crowd. It is exactly what it should be for the price and - as such - is good value. There are about 20 beach-shack style bunglows, right on the beach. Some are air-conditioned and some have fans - I cannot imagine not having airconditioning in that heat - but that's the budget part I guess. There is also a small restaurant, a beach bar, a masseuse and a manicurist in house.

The demographic appears to be 'backpacker' - although that could be due to the full moon party - and the resort aims to cater to that level of expectation and (often poor) behaviour. There are lists - of the 'fair warning' type - which I totally understand now that I've been there. But the vibe is seriously friendly and easy going - with the bar open for as long as there are drinkers and the pool having no closing time at all.

The rooms are basic but they are clean and the beds are comfy - the bathrooms are fine - they even have a roof which is not the case in many more expensive beach resorts. The airconditioning works fine, the security is good (we didn't see any rust btw).

Everything that follows is in direct reference to comments elsewhere on this page - which caused me quite alot of pre-arrival stress and which I think deserve to be addressed:

There's a very funny (snarky) review somewhere down the page which mentions lizards - surprise surpise people, there are geckos in tropical resorts in SE Asia!! God, I laughed.

The comment about the restaurant is utter cr@p - the food is of a much higher quality than most budget resort restaurants and seemed very popular with all the guests during our stay - the onion rings were ridiculously popular and the spicy noodle salad was spicy spicy heaven

The are many bars and restaurants within walking distance - however this is not the high-end market part of the island - so be aware.

We were there for full moon - I can't imagine the drinks being any cheaper - but even if the price did go up - so what! Full moon is 'high-season' for these guys - prices always go up during high-season.

The beach is totally swimable - when the tide is in - which I seem to remember happens something weirdly regular like twice-a-day. The sunsets are divine - be ready with your camera.

The music does pump techno most of the day - that's the demographic. It's like a Contiki tour in a beach shack.

The kid is a bit of a brat - but he's about three which is the brat age (I hope or else the parents are in for a nightmare).

I would stay here again if I wanted a budget holiday - which is unlikely as that's not really my thing - but credit where it is due - this is an excellent budget location.

I strongly suggest getting your free transfer to pick you up from the ferry - it would be a nightmare to get al cab otherwise.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Phangan beach resort. The beach front bungalow was full of Thai charm had everything we needed for a peaceful and relaxing stay.
The standard of the food at the hotel was also very good, and the pricing was very reasonable.
Our only gripe about this place was that the restaurant opened at 9am and closes at 8pm. If you needed an early breakfast or a late dinner you were stuck with a 10 minute taxi ride to Haad Rin.
Overall we loved Koh Phangan as an island as it was less commercial than Samui. When we return we will definitely be spending more time on Koh Phangan, and most probably at the Phangan beach resort.